Chapter 27: Advent of Metal Cooler
Last Time our heroes began their training with their new Ki weapons as Jason trains to master the Super Saiyan transformation. Meanwhile, Cooler and Talon continue working on their plan as Cooler threatens Salem's life by making her an ice cube floating in space. Afterward, after months of training, our heroes investigate a nearby village only to encounter Cooler! What happens next now!
Jason and Elias flew over to where Cooler had landed, and once they arrived, he shot out of a small hole catching them off guard. Cooler flipped over and kicked the two fighters away as he tossed several balls of Ki at them. Jason smacked them away with ease as charged back at Cooler kneeing him in the gut though this barely fazed the mechanized tyrant as the two exchanged blows.
"Answer me, how are you still alive?!" Jason questioned.
"You were just too weak to finish me off Saiyan, and now I will make you suffer for the humiliation you put me through!" Cooler declared.
Jason swept Cooler from his feet in response, and before Cooler could recover, he was blasted by Elias, who flew overhead. Jason joined Elias in the air as they watched the ground waiting for Cooler to resurface. The two flew away as the ground underneath them exploded, but Cooler did not appear anywhere from within.
"Shit, where did he go?" Elias questioned.
"I don't know I can't sense his energy," Jason answered. Just then, Cooler appeared behind Elias, kicking him into Jason as the two flew a distance away. But they soon stopped easily and begun to think of a plan of attack.
"I want you to keep a distance and shoot him with everything you've got," Jason ordered as Elias gave him a quick nod.
Jason flew right at Cooler, and the two collided their power, shaking the area around them, though, at the moment, it seemed that neither was giving it their all. To end the stalemate, Jason headbutted Cooler and flipped over and grabbed his tail, tossing him towards the ground. Cooler stopped himself before he made impact but was taken off guard when he was blasted by a hail of blasts from Elias.
"We're not going to just sit here again, are we?" Yang questioned as she looked at the fight in anger.
"No way we can help now. We just need an opening!" Damian answered.
"They're moving too fast for me to shoot though we'll need to wait for him to be still." Ruby pointed out.
"She's right while we've definitely become stronger. We'll have to wait for them to be at least. Still, we can't hit them while they're moving." Weiss agreed.
Soon Cooler broke through Elias's assault as planted his fist in Elias's gut as he turned to look at Jason.
"Now, then shall we end the warmup simian?" Cooler asked.
"Sure," Jason answered as he yelled out, releasing all of his power surrounding himself in golden energy.
The two charged at one another and clashed several times all around the area, but to the naked untrained eye, neither could be seen. But before long, Cooler got the upper hand hitting Jason into the mountaintop. Cooler went to follow up on this attack, but he was intercepted by Elias, who shot a beam in Cooler's way then hammered down on his head.
"I see that you have gotten stronger as well vermin, but my business is with the monkey." Cooler commented as he flew back up to Elias's level.
"Well, I'm not going to stop fighting. Things aren't going to play out like last time!" Elias replied.
"I couldn't agree more." Cooler agreed as he disappeared and reappeared behind Elias, grabbing onto his neck.
"Because this time, I'm leaving no survivors." Cooler declared.
Before he could deal the final blow, he was shot in the back by a small Ki beam. He turned around and saw Ruby with her Crescent Rose aiming at him. Cooler raised his finger to kill her, but he was stopped by Jason, who punched him straight in the face causing him to let go of Elias.
"Together!" Jason yelled as he and Elias flew towards Cooler.
The two fighters unleashed several barrages of attacks at Cooler, but it seemed to do little on the new mechanical menace. Flipping over, Cooler grabbed onto Jason's head with his foot and swung him into Elias. The two fighters flew towards the ground and into several houses.
"Well, he's certainly stronger," Elias said.
"Yeah, no shit," Jason replied.
"Still think you can fight him, Mr. Super Saiyan?" Elias asked.
"Of course!" Jason answered as he jumped back onto his feet and sped towards Cooler.
Jason using his full power, punched Cooler in the chest, causing it to break. In retaliation, Cooler pushed Jason away with a shockwave stopping his attack from going any deeper. Then raising both of his hands in the air, he created two dark balls of energy. Cooler threw the first one right at Jason, who caught it holding it at bay, but he was unprepared for the second one as it made contact with the first pushing Jason back as he could not hold it.
"Shit!" Jason cursed.
"How's this, Saiyan? How does it feel to be at another's mercy? I will make you suffer the same humiliation you put me through!" Cooler shouted.
"I can't tell you how much I've dreamed of killing you of making you suffer ever since I gained this new body from a little someone from your past!" Cooler goaded.
"From my past, who is he talking about!?" Jason questioned.
Cooler was taken off guard as Elias came from above, tackling Cooler and pushing him into the ground. With Cooler no longer in control of the two balls of Ki, Jason easily tossed them away, turning his attention back towards Cooler. As Cooler got Elias off of him, he prepared to attack Elias raising his right arm. But no sooner than he did, his right arm disappear cut off by a surprise attack from Damian.
"Filthy vermin!" Cooler cursed as he went to attack Damian.
Once again, however, he was attacked before he could do so this time by Yang, who combining the power of the spring maiden and her Ki weapons to deal some decent damage to Cooler's metal body as she punched him in the back.
"That was for my mother!" Yang declared as she quickly spun around and punched Cooler in the chest.
"That was for Evan!" Yang added as raised her right arm charging up a massive blast adding some magic to it.
"And this is for me!" Yang finished as she blasted Cooler through several houses and into the side of the mountaintop.
"Nice one Yang!" Ruby exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air.
"Thanks, but I don't think I did much damage," Yang replied.
"Well, he is down an arm, and it seems whatever this new body of his is made of got some damage, so don't sell yourself too short, Yang same goes to you, Damian." Jason complimented.
"That was unexpected, but that is the last time you will do such damage to me!" Cooler hissed as he rose from the side of the mountaintop.
"No matter what you do, no matter how much damage you do to me and this body, I will not stop until I have killed you Saiyan, do you hear me!" Cooler declared.
"Let's see if you can back that claim up Cooler because this time, I'm making sure your dead by in your words double-tapping bitch!" Jason yelled as he and Elias charged at Cooler.
Once again, the battle was in their favor as they attacked Cooler, who could not properly counter due to his lack of a right arm. Jason kneed him in the chin, pushing him up to Elias, who kicked him away, then the two blasted him into the ground.
As he pushed himself out of the hole, he was attacked by Neo, who hit him hard in the back of the head. When Cooler spun around to hit Neo, her body shattered, and she reappeared in front of him, stabbing him in the chest then backing up.
Weiss then summoned her armored giant commanding it to slam its sword onto Cooler, who blocked it with his remaining hand. But as he was preoccupied with holding the sword at bay, everyone else went in for an attack as Jaune slashed at his back, cutting it open. Taking that opportunity, everyone who could shoot blasted the hole with Ki shoving him away. As Cooler slowly got back up, Jason and Elias stood across from him, glaring at him.
"You're far more outmatched than before Cooler. You can't win!" Jason declared as he and Elias charged at Cooler. Jason spun around and kicked Cooler's top half off as Elias punched through Cooler's bottom, removing it from his midsection, splitting him into three pieces.
"Now, go to hell and stay there!" Jason yelled as he obliterated the remains of Cooler with a ball of Ki.
"We did it! We beat Cooler!" Ruby exclaimed.
"That actually seemed a bit too easy though compared to last time." Blake pointed out.
"Well, this time, we're all way stronger with Ki weapons and have a Super Saiyan and a Super Tuffle right of the bat!" Nora said.
"Super Tuffle?" Elias asked.
"Yeah, you're super strong like Jason, so why not right," Nora answered.
"Well, I wouldn't say that for one, I'm not as strong as Jason and Super Tuffle doesn't sound that good when you say it aloud," Elias replied.
"I just don't get it, though," Jason said, getting everyone's attention.
"What do you mean?" Yang asked.
"Why was Cooler here, and why did he kill a village full of people?" Jason clarified.
"I did so because I knew it would eventually bring you here, Saiyan though I had to go through a couple of other villages first." Cooler declared catching everyone's attention. Everyone turned around, horrified, seeing another mechanical Cooler standing on top off the mountaintop looking down upon them.
"But how we just destroyed you?" Elias questioned.
"You destroyed the first prototype of my new body though even so, it is impressive that you managed to destroy it." Cooler answered this time from another body that appeared behind the group. Soon they were surrounded by Metal Coolers. A total of twelve stared them down as they looked upon them in fear.
"What the hell is this?! How are there so many of you?!" Jason questioned.
"You'll find out soon enough, Saiyan." Cooler began speaking from the body in front of them.
"But for now, just remember what I've told you before as the only hint to your current situation." Cooler continued from another body.
"It's like I told you before. No matter how much damage you do to my body, I will not stop until I have killed you, Saiyan, for you see if you destroy one body." Cooler explained.
"I will just take control of another, and just to let you know, these bodies are much stronger than the one you dispatched earlier." Cooler finished as several of the different Metal Coolers charged at the group.
They could barely react as everyone scattered in groups to fend off the different Metal Coolers as many other Metal Coolers watched the battle from the sidelines. Ruby, Weiss, and Damian fought against one of the Metal Coolers, but they could barely hold it back as they kept having to use their Ki, leaving their weapons near-empty unable to attack. The same went for the other groups excluding Jason and Elias being Yang, Amber, and Neo then Blake, Pyrrha, and Jaune, then finally Alex, Ren, and Nora.
"Let's see how far those little toys will get you!" Cooler yelled as he kicked Ruby into Damian, depleting the Ki in her weapon as she blocked, then he blasted Weiss, who blocked with her summon's sword.
Jason was on the defensive as he fought off two Metal Coolers who attacked with a nonstop onslaught of attacks. In retaliation, Jason elbowed one in the face and blasted the other, pushing them away. He then grabbed one of their tails and swung him into the other one causing both to fall into the ground. Then the Metal Cooler on the bottom disappeared and reappeared next to Jason, and before Jason could react, time seemed to slow down as the Metal Cooler kicked him right…
in the dick.
Once done kicking Jason in the dick, he punched Jason away, who flew over towards Elias, who was fighting his own Metal Cooler. As Elias tried to fend off the Metal Cooler with all his strength, he was surprised as it backed away only for him to see Jason as his body collided with his, and the two hit the side of the mountain top and fell to the ground.
"This isn't good. He's completely overpowering us." Elias said.
"You're telling me he just kicked me in the dick! Why?! Why did he kick me in the dick?!" Jason complained.
"Quit being a baby dude, we need to fight," Elias commented.
"Hey, screw you, man, you know how hard he hits this shit hurts!" Jason yelled.
"Plus, I want to have kids one day!" Jason added as Neo looked at him with a smile on her face.
"Wait, I thought you didn't know how kids were made how do you…..oh right last night," Elias replied.
"Wait, does everyone know?" Jason asked.
"You were pretty loud, dude," Elias answered.
"His cries of pain will be even louder once I'm done with him." Cooler declared as three Metal Coolers stood in front of them.
Jason stood up and spat out blood as did Elias and prepared themselves for the coming attack. The three Metal Coolers charged right at them and pushed the two fighters back, keeping them on the defensive while landing critical blows on the two. One of the Coolers punched Jason in the chest then proceeded to grab his head and knee him in the face.
The two others blasted Elias together, sending him through the mountain as Jason flew up into the air. As Jason stopped himself, he looked at his friends who were all bruised and battered, having their auras broken and the Ki levels in their weapons depleted.
"We need to get everyone out of here quick!" Jason said as Elias joined him into the air.
"Any suggestions?" Elias asked as the two noticed an Atlas flagship flying towards them.
"I'll distract Cooler, you get everyone on that ship to recuperate, and when able come back and help because even as a Super Saiyan, this is going to be difficult," Jason ordered.
"Okay, be careful." Elias agreed as the two charged back into battle.
A Metal Cooler Stood above Ruby, Weiss, and Damian as it charged up an attack to kill the three teens until it was kicked away by Jason. After he got its attention, Jason charged at the rest, getting each of their attentions on him while Elias quickly grabbed who he could and flew off with them. But once they were halfway done, Cooler noticed their plan and stopped his other bodies from following Jason.
"Nice try monkey, but I'm not letting you save any more of your friends." Cooler declared as he surrounded his friends.
"I'm not going to let you hurt them Cooler, you're not killing any more of my friends!" Jason yelled as he attacked the Metal Coolers. As he fought his best against several Metal Coolers, a loud sound distracted everyone as the entire area was surrounded by upgraded Atlesian Soldiers as the Atlas Flagship soared overhead.
"About time they got here." Alex sighed.
"Attention Cooler, this is General Ironwood of the Atlas military surrender now, and we will not harm you!" Ironwood announced.
"Who's this idiot?" Cooler questioned. The knights aimed their weapons at Cooler as Ironwood, accompanied by Winter and Penny, came to the ground.
"So that's Cooler," Ironwood said as he walked up to the remaining group.
"Or at least whatever he's become," Alex replied.
"So are these little jokes you call androids going to just aim their pea-shooters at me, or are they going to do something significant?" Cooler questioned.
"They'll attack if you make any wrong moves or if I deem it necessary," Ironwood answered.
"Is that so, but what precautions did you put into them to prevent someone from the outside taking control?" Cooler asked with a sinister smile.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ironwood questioned. Suddenly each of the Knights began to shake violently as their visors turned from black to red, and each turned their weapons onto everyone else.
"What is this? What is going on!?" Ironwood questioned. Soon Penny began to shake violently next to them, falling to her knees.
"Somethings overriding my control over my body!" Penny said as her eyes turned red.
"What have you done, Cooler?!" Jason asked as he punched at the nearest Metal Cooler.
"I'm doing nothing, Saiyan, he is." Cooler answered.
"Who the hell is he?!" Jason asked.
"He means me, monkey," Talon answered from the nearest Knight. This caused Jason to go wide-eyed as he turned to look at it.
"No, that's not possible that voice it's…but…but you died, I saw your dead body!" Jason yelled.
"That's true. My body was broken, so in a sense, I did die. However, I made a backup of my consciousness into my computers and began anew." Talon explained.
"But how we destroyed your lab?!" Elias questioned.
"Ah, Elias, my greatest failure while true you did destroy my lab, I had a backup somewhere else one I never revealed to you or your brothers," Talon answered.
"Does that mean both threats that looked to take over our world have come back?" Winter asked.
"Technically, though, Talon wasn't there during the Vytal Festival," Alex answered.
"But how did he take control of my Knights?" Ironwood questioned.
"You built these tin cans based off of my technology you simpleton it was a simple task to take control of them!" Talon answered.
"Now, then Saiyan prepare to suffer!" Talon shouted.
"Not so fast, Talon!" Elias countered as he landed next to Jason.
"What is it you pathetic failure?" Talon asked.
"While Ironwood may not have specified it when I helped him gain this technology, I put something in the code of every Atlesian Knight and Penny in case something like this were to happen," Elias explained.
"On the off chance that someone were to take control of them, then control would immediately be transferred to me and me alone, save Penny she has her free will back. I also can trace where the hackers signal is, so now we know where you are." Elias finished.
"What?!" Talon screamed as each Knight's visor turned from red to a dark blue, and Penny's eyes returned to normal.
"Nice one, Elias." Jason complimented.
"Thanks." Elias thanked.
"You put code to take over my army without my knowledge?" Ironwood questioned.
"Well, you weren't going to, so I had to do so instead, I think you can see why," Elias answered.
"Well, that was a surprise, but in the end, it changes nothing those tin cans cannot stand against me and my many selves!" Cooler declared.
"Everyone get out of here, leave the rest to Elias and me," Jason ordered.
The others nodded as they began to leave though Ironwood took a while, not happy that he came down for nothing. Once everyone was gone, Jason and Elias were surrounded by all twelve Metal Coolers who had the Atlesian Knights now having their sights set on them.
"That was a bad move now. You're completely outnumbered and outmatched even with those toys." Cooler boasted.
"We'll see about that!" Jason replied as he let out a loud scream releasing all of his power surrounding himself in golden energy.
Elias soon did the same as he was surrounded by dark blue energy. The two fighters split up and fought against the twelve Metal Coolers taking on six each. Though the Atlesian Knights tried to help, the Metal Coolers made quick work of them, soon refocusing on fighting Jason and Elias.
Jason tried his best to take them on, but he was overpowered even as a Super Saiyan. If it was one on one, then he could've come out on top, but six on one was another story. He was utterly at Cooler's mercy as the Metal Coolers who pummeled him, throwing him around the area until he was thrown into the ground.
"What are you going to do now, Saiyan it seems Super Saiyan won't save you now?!" Cooler questioned.
"I'll fight to the bitter end!" Jason answered as he got up and grabbed onto the Metal Cooler's arms.
He powered up to full as he pulled the robotic doppelganger in half. Enraged Jason charged at the remaining five punching straight through another Metal Cooler's chest, causing it to have its top part torn off and explode. Seeing that some of his other bodies were being destroyed, Cooler ordered the rest of his mechanical bodies to ditch Elias and attack Jason.
Elias tried to stop them, but he was out of energy and too injured to stop them as he passed out onto the ground. Jason was now trying to fend off ten Metal Coolers at once, but even with full power with the rest of the Metal Coolers now focused on him, he was unable to keep up.
"This is the end Saiyan!" Cooler declared.
The Metal Coolers lined up and proceeded to blast Jason tearing apart his shirt and throwing him into the mountaintop unconscious. The Metal Coolers smiled and approached Jason grabbing onto him and flying off with Jason in tow as Elias looked upon them, regaining a shred of consciousness.
"Shit." Elias cursed before he passed out once more.
Several Hours Later…
Elias regained consciousness in an Atlas medical bay hearing the others talk outside.
"What do you mean we can't go after Jason?!" Ruby questioned.
"Because we'll be completely outmatched by their power, and we don't even know where they are," Ironwood answered.
"But he'll die if we don't go!" Yang argued.
"I'm sorry, but we need to stay here in case they decide to attack Atlas or any other kingdom that is my final decision." Ironwood asserted as he left them.
"Should have seen that coming," Ren said.
"Should we have?" Nora asked.
"Or at least we could have," Ren answered.
"Don't worry Neo, we'll get Jason back one way or another." Amber consoled a crying Neo.
Elias got up from the bed and slowly walked towards the door to join the group on the other side. Once he exited the room, everyone surrounded him asking him several questions.
"Are you okay should you be moving?" Amber asked.
"Did you see where they took Jason?" Ruby questioned.
"Where is Talon because they have to be there, right?" Weiss asked.
The questions ended when Neo came up and grabbed onto Elias's collar and shook him violently, most likely forgetting that Jason was not here to translate for her.
"I know where Talon's new base of operations is, yes, and it would be safe to assume that Jason was brought there," Elias answered.
"Alright, so all we need to do is sneak out of Atlas, infiltrate the base, shut the base down, then finally save Jason!" Ruby exclaimed.
"It's not going to be that easy, Ruby." Elias asserted.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"Ironwood is right. We are going to be outmatched, so if we just charge in, we will die, and then there is still the chance that they are going to attack somewhere most likely here." Elias answered.
"But we can't leave him there!" Yang argued once more.
"And we won't, which is why we need to plan carefully for what we do next." Elias began.
"We need to split up into two groups one will go to save Jason the second will stay here and help defend Atlas if they decide to attack and to keep Ironwood from being suspicious," Elias explained.
"So who goes in what group?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'm obviously going with the rescue group seeing that I know where we're going. The rest is going to be up to you guys." Elias answered.
Neo walked up and stood next to Elias, asserting that she was going to help save Jason, and no one was going to stop her.
"Okay, that makes two, but know we need to keep the rescue group small to not get noticed," Elias said.
When all was said and done, the two groups were formed the rescue team consisted of Elias, Neo, Damian, Alex, Amber, Yang, and Blake while everyone else would stay in Atlas.
"Alright, it's now, or never we're going to need to snatch an Atlas airship which I'll fly to bring us to the base that holding Jason. This is going to be highly dangerous, and not all of us may come back if we have to fight." Elias explained.
"Our friend needs us, and we're not going to abandon him," Ruby replied.
"She's right, let's do this!" Yang exclaimed.
Unknown Location…
Jason slowly opened his eyes, waking up from his unconsciousness, looking around at his surroundings. He was suspended midair by several wires attached to his body in a dark room, unable to see much around his body.
"Where am I?" Jason questioned as lights turned on, blinding him.
"You are in our domain, Saiyan." Cooler answered from in front of him.
Jason looked at Cooler, seeing him now that the lights were on as a lone head in a jar scarred and burned. His head looked to be on life support being kept alive by the liquid and machines around him, covering most of his scarred head.
"So that's what is left of you, huh you're lucky to be alive Cooler," Jason commented.
"Look who's talking, Saiyan, because the way I see it, I'm looking at a dead monkey." Cooler replied.
"Why am I even alive? I thought you wanted to kill me?" Jason asked.
"Don't be so hasty, Saiyan, we'll kill you soon enough I'm glad you're eager to die though," Talon answered as a mechanical body with a giant red eye walked into the room.
"First, however, we will make you suffer as we destroy the city of Atlas and slaughter its citizens so that you know their deaths are on your hands!" Cooler declared.
"But don't worry, we'll save your precious friends for last so that we can kill them nice and slow," Talon assured.
"I won't let you!" Jason yelled as he attempted to break free of his restraints. However, as he tried to release energy, he felt the wires suck it out, draining him of his strength painfully as he screamed in pain.
"What was that?" Jason questioned.
"That is the purpose of the wires attached to your body. It will absorb all of your energy when we see fit to power the reconstruction of my new, even better body, both mechanical and organic!" Cooler answered.
"Once my body is finished, I will absorb all of your energy, increasing my power, and killing you! Then Talon and I will conquer this world to use it to create a vehicle capable of traveling to Earth to finally exterminate the rest of your race!" Cooler explained.
"Earth didn't they say something about that before. Yeah, Cooler did about a Super Saiyan being there, but is that it just me and that Saiyan? Are we all that's left of the Saiyan race?" Jason questioned.
"Now then time to watch the show Saiyan," Cooler announced from a Metal Cooler, which turned Jason around to look at a screen displayed the views of every Metal Cooler and android that was going to Atlas.
Atlas Team…
The rescue team had just left after apprehending an Atlas bullhead thanks to Neo using her semblance when the alert came in. Everyone on the remaining team looked at their scrolls, seeing that several unidentified objects were making their way to Atlas at frightening speeds.
"Guess they are really coming here," Ruby said.
"It's a good thing that some of us stayed behind then." Weiss pointed out.
"I don't like the odds, though." Pyrrha voiced.
"I agree we could barely handle one Cooler, but now a whole lot more is on their way here." Ren agreed.
"I have faith that the others will be able to stop them remotely from the enemy base," Ruby replied as they went to defend the city.
Rescue Team…
"So, where exactly is this hidden base?" Yang asked as Elias flew the airship.
"It's on Vytal Island, to be honest, I don't know the exact area but the general location of where the signal came from, but it shouldn't take us too long to find them," Elias answered as they approached the island.
But as they reached the area of where the signal came from, they were shot at by several beams of Ki, which Elias tried his best to avoid. Eventually, they were hit, and the ship began to fall from the sky to the ground below.
"Guess we're in the right place!" Damian yelled.
"Alright, let's go everyone out of the ship!" Elias ordered as everyone began to jump out of the ship.
Once on the ground, they saw an unexpected sight as someone stood in their way. Adam Taurus stood in front of the group with his sword drawn, but he wasn't the same person he was before. His right arm was now completely mechanical, including his two legs.
"A-Adam?! What happened to you?!" Blake questioned as she looked at the boy in horror.
"I did what I had to do in order to become strong, Blake!" Adam shouted.
"When you all defeated me in Haven and ruined my plans, I suffered for I had nothing anymore! I trained every day of my life, but it meant nothing when facing you, the person I trusted most, and the person who abandoned me!" Adam began.
"So when Talon came to me and offered me this power, I knew I must have it because then and only then could I have my revenge because once done here, I will finally be able to put humanity in its place!" Adam finished.
"This guy is insane," Alex commented.
"Adam, is this really worth it? You sold out your identity as a faunus for power. Your sick, and you need help. Just stop this!" Blake begged.
"I'm not the one who's sick Blake, I'm just the only one who has the guts to do what's right!" Adam declared.
"Then, I'll have to stop you!" Blake replied, readying her weapon.
"I'd like to see you try!" Adam yelled.
"Don't worry, Blake. I'll back you up," Yang said as she stood next to Blake.
"Really?" Blake asked.
"Of course, partners stick together," Yang answered.
"You guys go ahead. We got this." Yang said.
Everyone nodded and ran away, heading to the approximate area where the signal had come from. It took them a while of trial and error, but eventually, they found the entrance of Talon's hidden base on the side of a mountain. The inside looked to be made majority out of metal. In fact, it seemed the entire mountain was just a fabrication.
"How much time does Talon have on his hands?" Alex questioned.
"Too much it looks like," Damian answered.
"He must have built this place when he first came to Remnant because I have no memory of it," Elias said.
"But why would he make something then hide it from his own clones?" Amber asked.
"Talon doesn't trust most people, not even copies of himself if he deems them in his words failures, so he tends to hide things like this," Elias explained as they entered a large room with many pillars.
"What the hell could they need a room like this for?" Damian questioned. As if to answer his question, a laser came shooting from above, of which Damian blocked with his sword.
"Guess you've gotten stronger, Damian, that's good defeating you and Alex would have been pointless if you weren't strong enough to fight against me." A voice said from above.
"Wait, but you're…ASHER!" Damian replied as he spotted his cousin above them with the same cybernetic augmentations as Adam.
"You let Talon do this to you as well! WHY? Why would you align with him?!" Alex questioned.
"Because of the humiliation, the two of you put me through defeating me, causing the Jiyu Game to fail and abandoning the traditions of the family! They locked me up because they said I was crazy, but they could never understand my dedication, but thanks to Talon, I now have to power to show not only them but the two of you as well who's right, and no one will question me again!" Asher explained as he drew his sword.
"You guys go ahead, Alex and I need to teach our cousin a lesson!" Damian said, drawing his sword.
Once again, the group split up now, leaving only Elias, Amber, and Neo to save Jason as they continued forward into the compound. They traveled through several hallways and rooms but could not find where Jason was being held. Their search eventually led them to a room with a giant supercomputer inside with several lights flashing on it.
"What is this?" Amber asked.
"A supercomputer," Elias answered.
"But it almost looks like its thinking." Amber pointed out, causing Elias to scowl as he looked at it.
"That's because it is, isn't it Talon?" Elias questioned.
"I see so you do have some kind of brain on you, Elias," Talon commented, shocking Amber and Neo.
"Where is Jason?!" Elias asked.
"That's none of your concern Elias for none of you are going to leave here!" Talon claimed as a lone figure appeared in front of them.
"But how?!" Elias questioned as he looked at the figure standing in front of him.
Silas stood in front of Elias, seemingly put back together by Talon looking more mechanical than ever. His eyes looked lifeless as if his soul was no longer there. The only thing in front of him was an empty shell.
"But Jason and I killed him how is he alive?" Elias asked.
"I scavenged the wreckage of Amity Colosseum much before the humans and faunus ever got to it and recovered his remains or at least what you left of him." Talon began.
"Though he was as much a failure as you, he was strong, so I decided to rebuild him as a puppet. He is still technically dead, no soul just a shell, but now he is much stronger than before thanks to Cooler and my further advancements in my technology!" Talon finished.
Sweat built on Elias's brow as he looked on the body made puppet of his elder brother thinking of what he should do. He was taken out of his thoughts when he felt Jason's energy nearby, but it was getting low almost at zero.
"Shit, there's no time!" Elias thought as he blasted a hole in the wall.
"You two go now he's running out of time!" Elias ordered.
Amber and Neo nodded as they ran for the hole to help Jason. The Puppet went to stop them, but Elias intercepted him, shoving him into a wall and into another room. The Puppet easily got Elias off him by kneeing him in the gut, causing Elias to hit the roof and cough blood.
"Damn, he is stronger than before and definitely stronger than me even after all that training!" Elias thought as he removed himself from the ceiling.
"So you allowed the others to escape for now, but how long will you last against The Puppet Elias?" Talon questioned.
"As long as it takes," Elias answered as he wiped blood away from his mouth.
Jason is now on the verge of death as his energy is taken from him to build Cooler a new body while at the same time, he is forced to watch Talon and Cooler attack Atlas. Now our heroes must save him, but Asher, Adam, and The Puppet are now in their way. Will they make it in time, or will Cooler be reborn anew as Jason perishes? Find out Next Time!
Author's Note:
Hey guys, another chapter done though it's short, the real action will start next time with a big reveal that I am very excited to show you guys. I know many of you are going to be surprised at the speed of this update, but due to recent events (Of which I will not talk about or lecture anyone about just stay safe), I am stuck in my room with no school, so I decided to write this fic a lot seeing as it's getting to my favorite planned part!
So just to make some things clear, Metal Cooler in here works similar to Ultron in which he only controls one body at a time, and the others move on their own until he takes control of them. Secondly, Silas is not technically back to life. His body was just made into a weapon now called The Puppet. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you next time!